I had an art class this week with young boys (7 to 9)…
and was astonished that they knew what discernment meant.
Well, not the actual word, but the concept.
I’m working with a group of women who are teaching young kids VIRTUES and this art lesson was on TRUTH. Others design games and songs and poems, etc. but my mission is to come up with an art class that explains the concept of the week.
So, we made paper plate puppets. One represented the Truth they hear in heads, and the other depicts the Lies.
We started with 2 paper plates with paint sticks that I hot glued to the back.
I show them 2 simple examples. They immediately know which symbol is Truth and which symbol is Lies. I ask them to come up with their own symbols.
These are 7 year old Micah’s puppets. A white Cat for Truth because “I love my cat”.
A brown Dog for lies because “The neighbor’s dog always scares my cat”
I ask Micah what was a time when he heard BOTH puppets?
“I broke a glass and wasn’t going to tell my mom.”
What did Dog say? “Sweep it under the rug and she won’t know.”
Did you hear Cat? “Yes, she said mom would find out and be mad if I lied to her.”
So, which voice did you choose? “I told mom I broke the glass and she wasn’t mad at me. We cleaned it up together.”
So what did you learn? “Dog wants to get me in trouble.”
What about Cat? She wants to help me.”
So, is this DISCERNMENT ???
For a 7 year old, I think it’s a really good start.
PS. What would YOUR puppets be?
